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Andrés Segovia

Andrés Segovia Torres, 1st Marquis of Salobreña (Spanish:[anˈdɾes seˈɣoβja ˈtores]) (21 February 1893 – 2 June 1987), known as Andrés Segovia, was a virtuoso Spanish classical guitarist from Linares, Spain. Regarded as one of the greatest guitarists of all time, he is seen as the grandfather of the classical guitar. Many professional classical guitarists today are students of Segovia, or students of his students.

Segovia's contribution to the modern-romantic repertoire not only included commissions but also his own transcriptions of classical or baroque works. He is remembered for his expressive performances: his wide palette of tone, and his distinctive musical personality, phrasing and style.

Early life

Segovia was born in Linares, Jaén, Spain. He was sent at a very young age to live with his uncle Eduardo and his wife María. Eduardo arranged for Segovia's first music lessons with a violin teacher after recognizing that Segovia had an aptitude for music. This proved to be an unhappy introduction to music for the young Segovia because of the teacher's strict methods, and Eduardo stopped the lessons. His uncle decided to move to Granada to allow Segovia to obtain a better education; after arriving in Granada, Segovia recommenced his musical studies. Segovia was aware of flamenco during his formative years as a musician but stated that he "did not have a taste" for the form and chose instead the works of Sor, Tárrega and other classical composers. Tárrega agreed to give the self-taught Segovia some lessons but died before they could meet and Segovia states that his early musical education involved the "double function of professor and pupil in the same body".

Segovia (Spanish Congress Electoral District)

Segovia is one of the 52 electoral districts (circunscripciones) used for the Spanish Congress of Deputies - the lower chamber of the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales. It is one of the nine electoral districts which correspond to the provinces of Castile and León. Segovia is the largest municipality accounting for around a third of the total electorate. It is the only municipality with more than 10,000 voters. Segovia was one of the relatively few districts where the electorate fell between 2000 and 2004. It is also one of the smallest districts in terms of electorate, ranking 47th out of the fifty two districts.

Boundaries and electoral system

Under Article 68 of the Spanish constitution
the boundaries must be the same as the province of Segovia and under Article 140 this can only be altered with the approval of congress. Voting is on the basis of universal suffrage in a secret ballot. The electoral system used is closed listproportional representation with seats allocated using the D'Hondt method. Only lists which poll 3% or more of all valid votes cast, including votes "en blanco" i.e. for "none of the above" can be considered for seats. Under article 12 of the constitution, the minimum voting age is 18.

In the 2005 national census, the population of the city of Granada proper was 236,982, and the population of the entire urban area was estimated to be 472,638, ranking as the 13th-largest urban area of Spain. About 3.3% of the population did not hold Spanish citizenship, the largest number of these people (31%; or 1% of the total population) coming from South America. Its nearest airport is Federico García Lorca Granada-Jaén Airport.

The province covers an area of 12,635km2 (4,878sqmi). Its population was 876,184 as of 2006, of whom about 30% live in the capital, and its average population density is 64.82/km2 (167.9/sqmi). It contains 170 municipalities.

Geography

The tallest mountain in the Iberian Peninsula, Mulhacén, is located in Granada. It measures 3,479m (11,414ft). The next highest mountains in the province are Veleta (3,396m or 11,142ft) and Alcazaba (3,371m or 11,060ft).

The river Genil, which rises in Granada, is one of the main tributaries of the Guadalquivir. Other important rivers include the Fardes, Monachil, Guadalfeo, Dílar, Ízbor, Verde and Darro.